Tizard Centre
About us
The Tizard Centre is at the forefront of research into autism, intellectual disability and community care. Celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2019, our work is highly influential and has helped to improve lives across the UK and internationally.
Our pioneering approach dates back to our first Director, Jim Mansell who in 2012 was awarded a CBE. In 2013, the Centre received a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of its outstanding work in the field.
We aim to share our expertise via study programmes and research projects. The Centre has strong links with health and social care organisations and many students come to Tizard thanks to a personal recommendation. We offer a wide range of postgraduate courses, designed to deepen your knowledge and give you the skills and confidence to make take the next step in your career and make a real change in the field.
Our mission
The Centre has an enduring commitment to social justice and our work is underpinned by values relating to anti-discriminatory practice, social equality and rights.
We keep people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families as our main focus, and work enhancing the health, care and education systems surrounding them in proactive ways.
This distinctive approach allows us to make a sustained positive difference to people's lives.
We are also pioneering in our focus on people with more complex needs.
Our work includes deinstitutionalisation, support for people’s sexuality, supported employment, special education, autism and neurodiversity, and behaviours that challenge.
"The Tizard Centre is about empowering individuals, respecting diversity and working for social justice."
Dr Serena Tomlinson - Senior Lecturer in Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities
Jack Tizard
Jack Tizard (25 February 1919 – 2 August 1979) was a research psychologist, Professor of Child Development, Research Unit Director, an international adviser on learning disability and childcare, and a President of the British Psychological Society.
He was among the first psychologists to undertake epidemiological research, study the learning potential of adults with learning disabilities experimentally, and promote the de-institutionalisation of people with learning disabilities.
He was a great pioneer of the scientific approach to social policy, particularly in developing services for adults and children with learning difficulties. The influence of his work is evident to this day. Our research centre has been named after him to honour his contributions to improving the quality of life of people with learning disabilities.
More information on Jack Tizard’s contributions can be found in Volume 10, Issue 1 of the Tizard Learning Disability Review
Image right By Jenny Tizard. CC BY-SA 4.0.
